A great book recommendation

For anyone interested in animal welfare, or simply interested in learning more about the similarities between humans and other animals, I always suggest "The Souls of Animals" by Gary Kowalski. He is a Unitarian Universalist minister and animal lover and his book contains some amazing stories that demonstrate non-human creatures' capacity for love, creativity, and abstract thought. His personal philosophies may not be particularly relevant to a lot of the more "hard" atheists out there, but the facts he presents are well-researched and his personal anecdotes are very touching.

I too am moved by the range and depth of animal consciousness. I don't really believe in "souls" either, at least not the typical definition of an intangible, immortal part of you that is ultimately judged somehow. I do however, honor the concept of the sum total of who we are, our thoughts, feelings, experiences and memories, everything that makes an individual truly unique. If this sum total somehow survives our physical death, then that's cool with me, but I don't think it has to in order to be something amazing. The author of the book gives a similar definition of what a soul is, and discusses how it can be applied to all living things.